With all this discussion on appointments to a senate seat I found this article covering appointments of this type over the years to be very interesting.

This is a section near the end which is a good read...

"Finally, while almost all states give the power to governors to fill vacancies, there are a few that do not, such as Oregon and Wisconsin. Two others have recently changed their laws to take away gubernatorial appointment power. Alaska changed its law after the Lisa Murkowski flap in 2002. And Massachusetts changed its process in 2004, when some Massachusetts legislators -- hoping John Kerry would be elected president -- didn't want Republican Gov. Mitt Romney to choice his successor. "

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archi...6/1718626.aspx